As Derrick Rose taught us last season, recoveries from ACL surgery can vary wildly. Some guys can recover in as quickly as six or seven months, while others can take more than a year before they even feel “right” again. Every body is different, and expecting athletes to rehabilitate at the exact same level and pace, both mentally and physically, is silly.

Atlanta Hawks guard Lou Williams is still recovering from his ACL tear on January 18th of this year, and although he’s progressing, it might be a while before we see him in an NBA game.

“Hawks training camp begins in 11 days – on Oct. 1 – and the team has no timeline on the return of Lou Williams from a torn ACL. According to team officials, Williams is progressing well with his right knee injury. However, he has not yet been given medical clearance by doctors to participate in training camp.”

With Williams still working his way back, the Hawks will likely look to second year guard John Jenkins to play the majority of the minutes at the 2. Jenkins was quietly very impressive as a rookie, shooting 38.4 percent from behind the arc for the season while averaging 15.2 points in the final five games of the year. New head coach Mike Budenholzer understands the value of floor spacing and shooting, so Jenkins would have likely seen a bigger role, even if Williams were healthy and ready to go for training camp.

Once Williams returns to action (and we have no timeline for when that we’ll be) he’ll likely slide in as the Hawks sixth man. If he can return to form, Williams can provide quite a bit of scoring pop off the bench, as he’s averaged 18.6 points per 36 minutes on his career. Atlanta should be able to make the playoffs without him, but to do any significant damage, they’ll need all the scoring help they can get.